Kids' Attitudes Change After Boycotting Tv Briefly

At the end of a month-long boycott of TV, preschoolers at the Datzyk Montessori School, Cetronia, returned to their sets but not to the same viewing habits, according to a teacher and a parent.

Instructor Marian Kavanaugh said 16 children and two mothers participated by avoiding television and TV-video games at home from May 9 to this past Sunday.

When the boycott ended at 9 p.m., most of the children tuned in "but they didn't say they would rush right back. They were calm about the fact they could watch TV," said Kavanaugh.

Yesterday, each child received a certificate proclaiming "I did it" on the screen of a picture of a television, plus a plastic-coated card and artwork in which they described what they did instead of watching TV.

The project began at the suggestion of a parent, Ellen Macindoe, who said yesterday she was well pleased with the results.

She said her two daughters, ages 5 and 6 1/2 , learned they can have more fun reading, riding bikes and playing with the family parakeet.

"They turned it (the set) on for a few minutes Sunday nightbut they were not excited about the boycott being over . . . They have no plans to watch TV. I wish more kids would do it," Macindoe reported.